JUDAS PRIEST — Rocka Rolla (review)

JUDAS PRIEST — Rocka Rolla album cover Album · 1974 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
666sharon666
Judas Priest are one of the most legendary heavy metal bands to have ever existed and Rocka Rolla from 1974 is their debut album. They previously released a few demos in the years since their 1969 formation. The band line-up at this point consisted of Rob Halford (vocals), Glenn Tipton (guitars), K. K. Downing (guitars), Ian Hill (bass) and John Hinch (drums). Though the drummer position in the band would remain unstable until the arrival of Dave Holland in 1979 (though he would be replaced by Scott Travis in 1989, Holland was the first drummer to spend significant time in the band) the other members of the band have remained more or less staples of the Judas Priest line-up. Rob Halford had some years away from the band between 1992 – 2003 and K. K. Downing retired in 2011 but you’ll find at least three of these four core members on every Judas Priest album ever released. Just not necessarily the same three.

Known mostly as a traditional metal act, Judas Priest nevertheless have a few albums in their discography that can be considered oddities, being different to any other album they’ve released and Rocka Rolla is one of them. The reason for that is simple; the year is 1974 and Judas Priest are still finding the sound that they would become one of the pioneers of. Rocka Rolla is more of a hard rock release, one that’s still got some roots in the blues and only hints at the heavy metal sound that would have fully developed by the time of its follow-up Sad Wings of Destiny in 1976. I think opener One for the Road is the most metal orientated song. There’s some harmonica use in a couple of places (played by Halford), notably the title track and to be honest I’d also say parts of it are quite progressive influenced, another thing that sets it apart from later work.

Rocka Rolla is a good start for the band but doing a review for it in 2014 as I am, with the album just recently being forty years old, and it feels more important for historical reasons rather than one that can be considered a Judas Priest classic. But with that said I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Rocka Rolla and I would definitely take this one over a few of their later albums such as Turbo, Point of Entry or Demolition and it's essential for any Judas Priest fan looking for a glimpse as to where they came from.

Attribution: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/judas-priest-rocka-rolla-t3778.html
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